Smart-road plans to go forward in 2009

Matthew PleasantStaff Writer

Wednesday

Dec 31, 2008 at 8:00 AM

HOUMA — Plans to enhance traffic-light technology on the parish’s busiest roads begun prior to this year’s hurricanes will go forward as scheduled in the midst of storm recovery, government officials say.

The final phase of a fiber-optic system that sends real-time traffic data to local law-enforcement and government agencies will begin this summer, officials with the state Transportation Department say. Terrebonne Parish’s president said he plans to resurrect a study next month on traffic cameras designed to catch red-light runners in the act.

HOUMA — Plans to enhance traffic-light technology on the parish’s busiest roads begun prior to this year’s hurricanes will go forward as scheduled in the midst of storm recovery, government officials say.

The final phase of a fiber-optic system that sends real-time traffic data to local law-enforcement and government agencies will begin this summer, officials with the state Transportation Department say. Terrebonne Parish’s president said he plans to resurrect a study next month on traffic cameras designed to catch red-light runners in the act.

The Houma Intelligent Traffic System, a three-phase construction project begun as many years ago by the state Department of Transportation and Development, will enter its final year-long phase in July, when the state puts the project out for bid, state officials said.

During the first two phases, crews installed a large and intricate network of fiber-optic cables, cameras and other equipment that allows operators to adjust traffic-light cycles and smooth congestion as it occurs.

The cameras are in place at busy intersections, including Hollywood Road and Tunnel Boulevard and Williams Avenue and La. 182.

The last phase, finished in February, completed the system and Transportation Department officials are already using it, said Stephen Glascock, the project’s director. The final phase will extend the network to other agencies, such as State Police Troop C in Gray and Terrebonne Consolidated Government, he said.

“The third phase is basically an expansion,” Glascock said.

Once connected, those offices can tap into the network for up-to-date traffic information and will be sent notification by e-mail and telephone in the event of an emergency, he said.

Other Louisiana cities, including New Orleans, Baton Rouge and Lafayette, also have the system, he said. Paid with a mix of state and federal money, Glascock said the final phase of the project will cost $2 million and take about a year to complete.

The total project will cost an estimated $12 million.

After the storms, the state Transportation Department anticipated heavy damage to the existing components of the system, he said. But crews found cameras and other parts knocked askew and in need of readjustment. The components were mostly intact.

“We sustained a little bit of damage, but not as much as we expected,” he said. “We were pleased.”

While the state completes its traffic-surveillance system, the parish is set to renew a study into its own system aimed at penalizing red-light runners, a plan derailed by the storms, local government officials said.

In August, Parish President Michel Claudet met with two companies, Gatso USA and Redflex Traffic Solutions, to discuss their products. Their cameras use sensors to detect cars as they cross an intersection when a light is red.

The project was set aside when the hurricanes slammed the parish this summer, making it a low priority, Claudet said. He plans to begin looking at the possibility of the cameras again in January and to make a decision shortly after.

“Right now, that’s not the highest priority,” he said. “It may not even be a priority after we see all the pluses and minuses of how it all operates.”

The cameras take photographs and video of an intersection as a driver passes through. If a driver is in violation, he’s mailed a ticket.

Houma Police Lt. Lonnie Lusco, who researched the cameras along with parish personnel, said his agency has turned much of its focus to strengthening community policing.

Since the storms, the department has put its resources into expanding Community Watch programs and trying to work with residents to stop crime, he said. But plans for the cameras are still in the works, he said.

“We’re not putting it on the shelf,” he said.

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